3-to-Inspire Challenge with Nathalie

hello everyone!
Nathalie with you today with this week's 3-to-Inspire challenge.  Each Saturday we host a creative challenge that offers 3 prompts as a starting point for a new project.  This week's is sure  to be a fun one with infinite possibilities.  Here are the prompts:

1. Use a Grid
2. Create an Embellishment Cluster
3. Stamp a Title

I pulled the July Kits, stamps and digital files to create my page using the prompts...

I love grid style layouts as they are symmetric and let's you add multiple pictures.   So, i pulled a few of the pictures and sized them to fit into my Life Crafted page.   I wanted all the details to pop, so i chose a patterned paper (add on kit) as the base for the page.

Once i had my pictures in place, i decided to replace one of grids spaces with a large embellishment cluster.  I used some of the cut apart elements, digital tags, ephemera, labels and enamel dots -pretty much a sampler of all the kit's goodies-  

I used one of the Wild at Heart Digital Traveler's Notebook  digital files to add my lines of journal.  Once i printed it, i used the new Madison Stamp set and Bailey 4x6 stamp set to create the title of this page.   The journal page was then glued to the background, and then i added a smaller embellishment cluster at the bottom of the page.

I hope this has inspired you to start a new project of your own using the prompts as a starting point!  remember to share with us what you create, we love to see how you use the prompts in your projects.

XO

Googles - Life Crafted with Anna

Hi dear ones! Anna here with my first project using the fabulous January "Fierce & Fabulous" Life Crafted Kit. This kit is jam packed with bright and happy colors, that's right up my alley. Also I've used the gorgeous Add On stamp set This Is Life "Fierce". I just love those frame stamps and words.

Here's what I came up with, hope you'll like it as much as I do!

The word Juli 2019 are stamped by this beautiful alpha stamp set, Italic upper/lower case alphabet & numbers.

And there you have it, all the happy colors! Now it's your turn to play with you lovely stuff and don't forget to share with us on CTK Fan Page and /or Instagram @citrustwistkits #citrustwistkits. We can't wait to see what magic you'll create.
Be sure to head over to the CTK shop and grab some goodies or maybe sign up for a subscription, you'll absolutely love it!

Until next time! Anna xo

PL challenge with Laura

Hello ladies! It's Laura here and today I bring you a new Pocket Life challenge so that you can get inspired with this gorgeous new December Life Crafted "Hustle & Heart" kit!

My challenge for you is to...

1. Add some bling!

2. Use your handwriting

3. Use two main colors and a basic

So, once this is told, I'm going to explain myself, but you can take these prompts and create what you feel!

On the first place, I love to add shiny elements on all of my projects. On this kit, you can find these gorgeous golden stars, but you can combine them with some sparkling embossing powders! Get the most out of your stamps and play with different materials!

On the second place, I encourage you to use your own handwriting! It's always nice to see how it changes through the years and it is faster as well!

Finally, you can see that I used some pale colors on this page. My pictures were a little bit dark, so I wanted to balance all the layout. Another technique that I like to use i to combine only two colors and some neutrals. This way, it will be easier for you to match everyting!

And that's all for today! I hope that you got inspired and that you play along with this challenge! And don't forget to check the shop for more beautiful scrapbooking goodies!

Best wishes!

December Daily with Sarah: Documenting Our Christmas Card

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm back to share how I added in the Christmas card we sent out this year to my December Daily album.  Last year was the first year that we started ordering photo cards and it's a tradition that I hope to continue for as long as I can.  I'd also like to make sure I document these cards every year in my December Daily album so I can look back on them and see how we've changed. 

There were so many beautiful papers and embellishments in this month's "Pleasant Valley" kits that went with the colors of our Christmas card so I got to play around with a lot of options!  However, I will admit that my main inspiration for embellishing this page was the "Postmarked" stamp set.  I just love all of the buildable pieces, and the sentiments and illustrations are so perfect for documenting or sending happy mail! 

For the left side of my page I used some pattern papers to back every other 2x2 inch square.  I used the Heidi Swapp letters from a pattern paper to spell out "Family" and I just love the nice bold look that made.  I wanted to have some see through pockets in between my pockets filled with pattern paper so for those I either used buttons (adhered to the outside of the pockets) or some labels that I stamped on.  I added a piece of transparency to each of the clear pockets so I could adhere whatever went inside to ensure that nothing would move around.  

I also adhered my Christmas card to a piece of transparency mainly because I didn't want to punch through the card itself, but also because I wanted to make sure the backside, which has a photo of my daughter on it, was visible.  I really enjoy the floating effect that that gave.

Thank you for letting me share this simple and fun page with you!  If you're working on a December Daily album this month I hope it's going well and that you're enjoying the process.

Happy Crafting!

First Day with Emma

Hi CTK friends!  Emma on the blog today to share a layout using the, oh so gorgeous, February Main kit!  I'm quite sure I've confessed my love of circles before - there is just something about them that I adore and I find myself sneaking them onto pages without even realising sometimes.  In this case it was actually a conscious decision but rather just use circles on my page, I mixed it up by adding them onto 2x2 squares and creating my own patterned background!

This is one of those layouts that kind of just came together on its own.  I started it with an idea of using circles and the design changed a few times in the process of actually putting it together ;)

Here's a look at the page I created:

 

As you know (or may not know), my pages are all 6x8 which means I'm always left with lots of 6x4 "scraps" of paper, particularly white cardstock which I almost always use for my backgrounds and I'm forever looking for ways to use them up.  For this page I've used them by cutting little 2x2 squares and then adhered my circles on top (I used my glue pen).  I used a 3/4" punch and cut dozens of them using almost all of the papers included in the Main kit.

 I think I had around 10 of the 2x2 squares done by the time I'd used up all my punched circles (I went a little crazy with my trusty little punch).  I had originally planned to just adhere them to the page in a plain square pattern but by some odd chance, I'd turned one on the diagonal and liked how it looked so ran with that instead.

 

Rather than keep it all square and uniformed I cut a few of them in half (so they're 1x2") and mixed the positioning, keeping a small border around them.  Although I've mixed all the patterns with the circles I found that having the squares/rectangles all butt up together was crazy busy so that small white border around each shape helped to break things up a bit.

I adhered the pieces using double-sided tape but I've also gone over a few pieces with the sewing machine (using either standard straight stitch or the zig-zag).  My pages are not complete without some machine stitching on them!

My journaling is typed up in Photoshop and I just make sure it fit within the 2x2 white squares then printed it on the same white cardstock I've used on the background (using up more of that scrap cardstock I have!).

The gold alphas included in the main kit are gorgeous and I LOVE how they have mixed sizes of the font.  I often have trouble using some of the alphas on my page becuase they are so big but these smaller fonts are perfect.  I used a combination of the small and large fonts here and by some small miracle, they are a perfect fit for my 2x2 square format!

Although I knew what my layout was going to be about I actually left the photo printing until I'd figured out the background design.  Although my title/journaling are on the angle I didn't want my photo to be so I used Photoshop to create the diamond shaped template for my photo and then just printed it on 6x4 photo paper.

I left the embellishing to the bare minimum because the page has alot going on in the background already, I just tucked one of the word stickers at the bottom of my journaling then cut the yellow heart from the leatherette stickers and popped it underneath.  And that's it!  Embellishing is my favourite process of any layout so only having 2 pieces is unheard of for me ;)

I'm not going to lie - this page took a bit of time to put together.  I'm a slow scrapper at the bet of times but this probably took a few hours (I want to say 2 hours but in all honesty I think it was probably longer than that, ha!). It was fiddly, and somewhat messy with gluing all those circles down, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it!  And it's such a great way to use all those patterned papers too (without it looking like a crazy mash of patterns!).

I am so happy how this page finished up.  I got to use my favourite shape (circle) but added a new spin on it by having them stuck to 2x2 squares and having them on an angle. 

Thanks so much for joining me on the blog today!  I hope this might inspire you to try a new spin on a trusted favourite shape/technique of yours!  Take care, Em xo

Sunday Sketch with Emma

Hi friends!  Emma here to share my layout using this week's Sunday Sketch. First up, let's look at our sketch for today:

And here's the page I created:

As you can see I've not changed too much from the sketch - the layout is basically the same.

The page started with the ink splatters to match the sketch.  I have a love/hate relationship with "messy" things - particularly ink splatters.  They never seem to go where I want them to no matter how careful I am.  Took me 3 attempts to get it right, haha.  I mean I get that they're meant to be a little random but I obsess about the size and spacing..I know, I'm crazy right? ;)

Once I was happy with my splatters, I picked my photo - I love it because it has alot of gorgeous blue sky but what really I love is the sun flare in the top right of the photo.  I went with a yellow patterned paper (sun flare...sun....yellow....you seeing my logic? ha!) and teamed it up with a neutral pattern papter, then layered those underneath my photo just like the sketch.

My title on the RHS was the most fun to put together!  I brought together a few pieces from the Main kit and layered them all down the RHS of my photo (popping a few foam dots behind a few of them to give it a bit of dimension).  Those gold Thickers from the Main kit are gorgeous so I paired it up with a few of those die-cuts. 

Because the title/phrase words had extended the full height of my photo on the RHS I just popped my journaling on the bottom left of my photo (being sure I didn't block any of those rather specifically placed ink splatters!).

To finish off my page I machined stitched at the top/bottom of my page (in black cotton for a bit of contrast) and popped a few of the gold thicker stars around my page to match in with the gold letters of my title (balance things out given I didn't have gold anywhere else).

This sketch was such a fun and easy one to work with.

Now it's your turn! To play along with this week's Sunday Sketch Challenge, create a layout based off of today's sketch, upload it to the gallery with today's date (12/17) in the title, and you are in for a chance to win a $5 gift certificate to the CTK Store!

Thanks, Em xo 

Sunday Sketch with Leigh

Hello Crafty Friends! Leigh here, to share my take on the Sunday Sketch.

 The idea for a few pleated pumpkins came to me when I purchased a new punch, and saw it upside down in the bag. The ballon shape looked like a pumpkin when turned upside down. A photo of our Pomeranian in his Halloween costume seemed fitting for this page.

Before adhering the punched pumpkins, I stitched a line down to each one from the top of the page. Close up shows the basket portion, and I turned it into a stem by punching it from contrasting papers in the kit. You can glue the tiny bits on with a fine line glue pen.

The photo in black and white helped the color scheme to stand out.  Layers of tags, and fussy cut papers went behind the photo. Some dimensional foam helped the photo to stand out a little more.

Some scattered stars and stapled bits coordinate with the cut-aparts in this month's kit. I stitched the triangular scraps to the bottom of the layout. 

Here is your Sunday Sketch! Will you have a go? 

Thanks for joining us today,

Leigh

Explore | Gina Rodgers

Hi everyone, I'm sharing one of my July pages with you today, created with the #rightnow main and sprinkles kits. I've gone for a grungy feel on the background, which I've built up with layers of distress stains, ink, watercolour paint, graphite scribbles and stamping.  I've chosen papers from the main kit which replicated the muted colours in the photo

I've trimmed the 'this is it' cork arrow to a different style arrow and inked the edges. The die-cut pack in the Sprinkles kit is perfect for a travel themed layout

Thanks for looking, I hope you've been having fun with your July kits, standby for lots of inspiration from August kit creations starting tomorrow!

Gina